DVD Re-View: Wanted

Are you a loser? Does it seem like life is always raining on you? Do you hate your job? But you’re probably too afraid to do anything about that aren’t you? When you go to the ATM to make a withdrawal, does the screen say “You’re broke. You’re an asshole.” Do you want to just scream at your boss, tell her to F off, and smack your so called “best friend” in the face with a keyboard? Well if you answered yes to these questions, you may just be destined to be a bad ass assassin. At least, that is how it goes for the main character in Wanted. James McAvoy played Wesley GIbson, a typical movie loser. He hates his job, but he is too afraid to do anything about it. His girlfriend cheats on him with his so called “best friend,” and he knows it. But he’s too afraid to do anything about it. He lets people yell at him, push him around and walk all over him. But he’s too afraid to do anything about it. Your run of the mill movie loser. The other “star” of this film is Angelina Jolie, but you will find that I hardly mention her in this review. I think she is given way to much credit. She shows little more in this movie than her bare behind, and no acting ability. Now I’m not saying she’s a bad actress, just that the role for her in this movie could have been just as good with a B-movie actress playing the part. This film was all about McAvoy and his loser turned bad ass.

Well, the story goes a little like this. Wesley Gibson is established as a major loser. He has these “panic attacks” where everything seems to slow down. He freaks out and takes medication for this. Then an agent of some secret organization is assassinated. The other agents come to recruit Gibson. He learns that his so called “panic attacks” are actually a case of his heart beating super fast (400 beats a minute) and sending massive amounts of adrenaline to his system. This “slows things down” and is a vital tool to the assassins. He learns he was born to do this, in fact he is the son of the assassinated assassin, and “the only one who can kill the man who killed his father.” I know, typical revenge plot. But trust me, this movie is far from being a film filled with just the typical, boring cliches. I can only describe the film in three words: “It kicked ass!” This movie was action packed and exciting. The last movie I saw that could compare to the amazing bad-assery of this film was Clive Owen’s Shoot em up. It was filled with awesome fight/chase sequences. The training of Wesley Gibson, necessary for him to become a bad ass assassin, was hardcore. I really enjoyed it. The first test of Gibson’s worth was to shoot the wings off of a couple of flies. I thought that was very cool. He went on to get “advanced training” in guns/knives as well as an advanced course in “getting beat up.” It was really funny, actually. And of course, Wesley becomes a member of the Fraternity of assassins, whose motto is: “Kill one, save a thousand.” That’s their motto, that’s why they do what they do.

The spoilers will end there, as I will say here and now I recommend you see this movie! At the very least, rent it, but definitely worthy of a buy. It was full of great gun fights, awesome car chases, plenty of twists and even some humor. My favorite gag of the movie is in the beginning, when Gibson still thinks he is a miserable loser. He apologizes for everything. Angelina Jolie’s character responds to this. Here goes:

AJ: “You say you’re sorry too much.”

JM: “Yeah, well I’m sorry about that.”

The line was delivered with great comedic timing and inflection. McAvoy said it under his breath, as if he was ashamed of saying sorry so much but he just couldn’t do anything about it. McAvoy is a strong point in this movie. He is great in his dual role as miserable loser and bad ass assassin. You watch the character grow up in the movie, cliche at times but still, he grows into something more. The character learned a lot from the Weapons of Fate.

“they taught me how to kill, how to feel no pain, and how every job has the perfect weapon. I’m the perfect weapon. ”

Wesley Gibson is bad ass!

And the character ends in a powerful place. I won’t give away any of the twists, but I will say I was fooled by this movie. It was good, just when I thought it was going one way, it went the other. Do yourself a favor, watch Wanted. The Blu-ray DVD had the standard set of features, but I would recommend buying it just to have it in your collection. This is definitely a movie you can enjoy multiple times. In closing, I will leave you with my absolute favorite line from the movie. One that will definitely find its way into my daily routine. Seeing the movie will help you understand the quote, but I bet if you think real hard, you could figure it out anyway…

Biggest casting probs I have with this film are Jolie and Freeman,,, (hated them)
As far as the story goes, unless their in the Matrix, Bullets don’t curve around things… Are they in the Matrix ? If so who needs a Matrix ripoff,,,???

Jon

I think Morgan Freeman is good in everything. I have no qualms about him. But Jolie didn’t need to be in this film. And they marketed this as an Angelina Jolie movie, but the movie was all about James McAvoy.

I dont really think that comparisons to the Matrix are fair here. What the fraternity does is not a matter of “powers” but extreme consentration and focus. Their hearts beat super fast, pumping them full of adrenaline. When they concentrate and focus during these adrenaline boosts, they can use their training to accomplish seemingly extraordinary things. It reminds me of martial arts tactics taught by monks. All about focus, concentration and they can move more quickly than one would think. It’s totally believable to me.

Now I understand the bullet thind, I guess I can see that. But all movies like this have to have some level of fantasy. And I thought they did a great job of explaining it.

“If no one had told you that bullets fly straight…”

At some point we have to accept a certain level of fantasy as it is just a movie. But I see where youre coming from on the bullet thing. Most unbelievable part. In all the trailers and clips of the film, they marketed that as a major part of the film. In reality, it is a rather minor part. They used it in a couple of kills, thats it. It’s all about extreme focus, concentration and training. With the exception of the bullet thing, I totally buy this as believable stuff.

I loved this movie, but I would imagine I’ll find a fair amount of people who didn’t enjoy it.

This is all, of course, just my humble opinion.

Stan-Lee

You know what ruined this movie for me? The whole premise that they were weavers that translate fabric to see who to go kill!

How lame is that.

Jon

Yes, that was pretty lame. But what I took from that, possibly just hoping for a sequel, was that if Morgan Freeman’s character starting changing “targets” for his personal gain, who’s to say that other leaders of the fraternity didn’t do that? Maybe the weaving thing is just some lame cover up and a way to give people excuses to kill whoever they want.

Even if I believed it was legit, it wasn’t enough to kill it for me. But it was lame. Can’t argue with that.